James Evan Obnamia

AB POS 092649
LIT 126.1
Sir Ernesto Abad
The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor
By Bienvenido Santos
The story of Solomon King in the novel The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like
Robert Taylor by Beinvenido Santos show us a vivid picture of what it is like to be a
Filipino migrant in the US and how it feels like to be one. To start, Solomon King is an
old Filipino guy who is about in his 60s or so and lives in a community of Polish people.
Solomon King is the only Filipino in the community, not because of he cannot find a
Filipino community, but because he chose it to be. He chose to be alienated for he even
cannot find his place within the Filipino community. He is part of the older generation of
Filipinos abroad because of their service during the war and was granted citizenships
but he is different from the other old Filipinos because he finds the need to better
himself through studying. He cannot even identify himself with the younger Filipino
professionals. He does not have a stable life, even his love affairs are just brief
relationships. It did not last long. While in search of this identity of his, he found it in one
American actor named Robert Taylor. He is apparently obsessed with Robert Taylor,
even thinking that when Robert Taylor died, he will die as well. During this time, he
begins to reminisce about the past, how it was like in the Philippines until he left the
country for the US. He is travelling around United States, but what he remembers are
memories of his Filipino life. This shows that no matter how far you go, your identity still
belong to the land where you grew up, and one cannot find it anywhere else. In the end,
he finds himself with his old friends in a Filipino community.